The 52nd annual Grammy Awards will be held tonight and Kenny Chesney is nominated for the second year in a row, and second time overall.

The nomination is in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals category for his duet “Down The Road” with Mac McAnally.

“Some things are just magic and you know it,” says Chesney. “I knew the first time I heard Mac sing this on his Simple Life record… the same place I heard ‘Back Where I Come From.’ It gets inside and lets you understood everything about life you don’t even realize. So it makes sense the Grammy people – who’re from all musical genres – would recognize this song and the heart Mac brings. For a little record like this – as big as country radio can be – to spend a couple weeks at the top of the charts, it touched people. So I’m honored to share this with my friend.”

“I’m blessed by the wonderful friends I’ve found through music and how generously they’ve shared their talent, songs and lives with me,” Chesney explains. “When something like a Grammy nomination happens for something that was just an honor, I can only feel humbled – and grateful.”

Here are the other nominees in the category:

• Beautiful World – Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
• Start A Band – Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
• I Told You So – Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
• Everything But Quits – Lee Ann Womack & George Strait

Leading the nominations this year is Beyonce with ten nods, Taylor Swift with eight, and The Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell, and Kanye West with six nominations each.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on CBS to see if Kenny is a winner.

Update – Kenny and Mac did not win. Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis took home the award for “I Told You So.”

Last summer the makers of the Rock Band video game series released Country Track Pack. The addon featured 21 country songs including “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

If you opted not to get the Track Pack you will be able to download “Tractor” separately starting on Tuesday.

All six tracks will be available either individually for $1.99 (160 Microsoft points; 200 Wii Points) or in a bundle for $9.99 (800 Microsoft points). Look for the “Going Country 03″ six-pack next Tuesday, February 2 on Xbox 360 and Wii, with the PlayStation 3 downloads hitting that Thursday, February 4.

Here’s the songs that will be made available:

• Kenny Chesney – “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”
• Montgomery Gentry – “Gone”
• Rascal Flatts – “Me and My Gang”
• Sara Evans – “Suds in the Bucket”
• Trace Adkins – “Swing”
• Willie Nelson – “On the Road Again”

No Shoes Radio has posted the full details for their broadcasts from Miami during Super Bowl week (next week):

“I try to bring the fans into my music… into my life,” says Kenny. “The cool part about No Shoes Radio is it puts people right in the vibe of my life, what we’re listening to… where we’re going… what the moments might hold.”

And from February 2-4, look for NSR to go live for a few hours a day from poolside at the legendary Surfcomber to bring the vibe that is the pre-party anticipation. Exact times are being worked out – and will be updated as they lockdown on www.noshoesradio.com, Twitter and Facebook — but tentatively are 5-7 pm EST on Tuesday and 11 am – 2 pm on Thursday and then starting at 8 pm on Wednesday and going live straight until Uncle Kracker takes the stage.

“Miami is strictly VIP, invitation only,” says Chesney. “But we’re gonna take my friends – by way of No Shoes Radio – to hang out. There’ll be people stopping by… a party going on… and all of the post-long-day-in-the-sun vibe that is South Beach in full swing. I can’t get you in, but that doesn’t mean I can’t bring you along.”

No word as to whether Chesney will make the pool party or not, “which I hate, because I took a year off form the big tours to be able to do this kind of stuff… and I know this one’s gonna rock.” So perhaps even Chesney will be tuning in via his own radio station.

“Kracker’s new album is awesome,” Chesney explains, “and anyone who saw us when he was out on the road knows that Matt is a great entertainer. He knows how to rock and also to have fun with it. If I don’t get there, I’m gonna be bummed… but these movies are a lot more work than you think!”

Be sure to tune in next week at www.noshoesradio.com!

Not only will two of Kenny Chesney’s good friends be competing in the Super Bowl next week (Saints coach Sean Payton and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning), but Kenny himself will be there in spirit.

His single “This Is Our Time” will kick off Westwood One’s radio coverage of the Super Bowl, placing it on 600 radio stations across America and on American Forces Radio Network. The song, which Chesney was inspired to write in the fall of 2008 during a dinner in Nashville with play-by-play announcer Brett Musburger, football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and producer Bill Bonnell, was featured on ESPN’s College Game Day broadcasts this past fall.

Also, No Shoes Radio will be live at the Hooters Super Pool Party in Miami February 2nd-4th. View NSR’s Facebook page for details.

So Chesney will be represented in song and in spirit during Super Bowl week. Will he be there in person? What do you think?

Tickets go on sale via presale this morning at 10 am PST for the four Kenny Chesney shows in Las Vegas (May 14-15 and July 2-3).

The presale password is AEGCHESNEY

Click here for TicketMaster links

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday so be sure to grab them at this presale if you’re planning on going!

Kenny Chesney will play four shows at The Joint in Las Vegas (May 14th & 15th and July 2nd & 3rd).

Presale tickets went on sale to Fan Club members on Tuesday and another presale begins Thursday at 10 am PST for everyone else.

We’re told the password you’ll need at TicketMaster is AEGCHESNEY.

Click here for the TicketMaster links to these shows

View all 2010 tour dates here.

After playing a show there last April, Kenny Chesney will return to The Joint at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas this year for two shows in May and two shows in July.

The show last April was one of the highest-energy and longest shows of the year for Chesney. He played his normal set and then 17 more cover songs! View the incredible set list here. Will fans get the same high caliber shows when Kenny returns on May 14th & 15th and July 2nd & 3rd?

“Obviously we like to play,” Chesney laughs about his band. “The beauty of the Joint is that not only is it a great rock and roll room, but they’ll let us get up there and play… and play… and play. We have so much fun, because we can throw in all kinds of stuff we don’t get to play in our regular show, and the audiences are diverse enough that no matter what we throw at them, they know the songs!”

“That’s what so great about a gig where the capacity is under 4000, especially at the Joint,” Chesney enthuses. “It’s the best of both worlds: you get the energy of a club, but it’s still enough of a stage that there’s room to run around and have fun! Because when we do these smaller, less structured shows, we like to let loose without tripping over each other or getting tangled in someone’s chord.”

Update – Tickets will go on sale Saturday, January 30th at noon through TicketMaster.

There will be a presale beginning Thursday at 10 am PT through TicketMaster. We’ll share the password when we get it (Please e-Mail it to us if you know it).

The Fan Club Presale will begin Tuesday, January 26th at Noon PT. Go to www.kennychesneyfanclub.com to get your tickets or to join the fan club.

(H/T to Kay)

Both Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett are good friends with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. Good enough friends that the coach invited them to sit in the press box at Sunday night’s NFC Championship game against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans.

The Saints won in overtime 31-28 with a 40-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley. They advance to face Peyton Manning (another friend of Kenny’s) and the Indianapolis Colts at the Super Bowl in Miami on February 7th.

In 2007 and 2008, Sean Payton invited Kenny to work out with the Saints at preseason training camp. The Saints missed the playoffs both years, and before this season Payton jokingly told Kenny to stay away this year. With the way the Saints are rolling, Kenny may not get an invite next year either.

No Shoes Radio will broadcast live at the “Hooters Super Pool Party” in during Super Bowl week. More details will be announced soon.